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Tika Sumpter Reveals Why She Kept Her Pregnancy a Secret for 7 Months: I Didn't Want to Hear 'Who's the Dad?'

By Jennifer Drysdale 8:05 PM PDT, September 9, 2016

Photo: Fit Pregnancy and Baby

Tika Sumpter is opening up on why she decided to keep her pregnancy a secret.

The Southside With You star proudly showed off her baby bump at the film's junket last month, but according to Sumpter, even her closest friends weren’t aware of the big news until her third trimester.

The 36-year-old actress, who is expecting her first child in October, recently sat down with Fit Pregnancy, where she dished all about how she was able to keep her pregnancy a secret.

"She's my first child, and I wanted to experience every moment of this pregnancy for myself and enjoy it without everybody else being in it with me," she said of her soon-to-be daughter. "Until recently, you couldn't tell if I was pregnant or had a little beer belly!"

"I didn't want to hear, 'Who's the dad?'" said Sumpter, who hasn't revealed the name of her boyfriend and father of her child. "Social media can be harsh, and I'm a mama bear, protective of my family. So that's why I waited to tell people, including some of my friends. My friends weren't mad at me. They said, 'You did it the way you wanted to do it. You're an inspiration.'"

While Sumpter loves her boyfriend of almost two years, and "would love to get married" in the future, she also revealed her pregnancy wasn't planned.

"I found out around Valentine's Day, when my boyfriend took me on a surprise trip to San Diego," she confessed. "I never want McDonald's, but I was like, 'I need a Big Mac, fries and a Coke now. Afterward, I immediately fell asleep. When I woke up, my boyfriend was like, 'Haha! Are you pregnant?' I said, 'Maybe. Go get a test!'"

"He brought back a generic-brand test, and right away it said positive," she continued. "I could not comprehend it. So I said, 'Go get a name-brand test!' He did, and that one said yes too. I still have the stick. I had to show it to my mom, because she didn't even believe me when I told her."

Someone who knew off the bat, however, was Tyler Perry.

"When I was five months, Tyler Perry texted me, 'Are you pregnant?'" Sumpter dished. "Inside, I was thinking, 'Oh my god, how did he know?' I wrote back, 'What are you talking about? You're crazy!' But when I saw him that afternoon, I told him."

"He just said, 'I knew it! Tika, this is going to be the best time of your life,'" she added. "I feel lucky that he's been so supportive."